1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seal member automatic fitting apparatus and method, and more particularly to a seal member automatic fitting apparatus and method in which a seal member is fitted on a shaft portion of a rotor to be mounted in a copy machine, a laser printer or the like, automatically and smoothly, without being damaged.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various kinds of rotors used in a copy machine, a laser printer, or the like. Such a rotor is equipped with a seal member. The seal member may just be an oil seal, or, for example, may be integrally formed of a shaft seal and a bearing. In the prior art, fitting the seal member on the shaft portion is almost always worked by hand.
Further, fitting the seal member by spraying compressed air on the seal member and using an automatic machine such as robot or the like is also known.
The seal member has a fitting hole formed in both of the shaft seal and bearing for fitting the seal member on the shaft portion, but tolerance of the fitting hole is strict. Hence, even if the seal member is only slightly displaced from the shaft portion, the fitting of the seal member becomes difficult to perform either by the automatic machine such as the robot or the like or by hand. Further, if the fitting of the seal member is performed by force, the seal member may be damaged.
In order to avoid damaging the seal member, a "gutter" may be formed in the shaft portion for fitting the seal member. However, since the compressed air cannot be sprayed so as to produce a balanced pressure on a side of the seal member, the fitting of the seal member cannot be smoothly performed.
As mentioned above, in the case of introducing the compressed air, if the compressed air is not sprayed so as to produce a balanced pressure on the side of the seal member, the fitting of the seal member cannot be smoothly performed. In order to realize a smooth fitting of the seal member, an air passage is need. However, it is typically difficult and expensive to form the air passage.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, in the prior art, an actuator 41, which actuates a chuck claw 40 for a shaft portion 12 of a rotor 10, is disposed in an off-set state so as to prevent interference with the shaft portion 12. For this reason, the fitting of the seal member is difficult, the seal member is easily damaged, and the fitting apparatus cannot be made compact.